Thomas Francis Silver Seal Top Spoon, 1628

 This is a great example of a Charles I period silver seal top spoon made by one of the most important silversmiths of the period, Thomas Francis.

This handsome spoon has a particularly good, fig-shaped bowl that retains a super-thick rim. It has a cast seal terminal to which the flat plate is dot pricked with original baptismal initials for "PC".

This is a top quality seal top spoon in fine condition with an excellent unworn bowl - just look at that thick rim! There is a little wear to the cast seal finial and a few minor nicks on the back, edge of the bowl -- see final photo. Curiously, the spoon is stamped with "SA" to the front, base of the hexagonal stem. The spoon has a good patina and a great set of hallmarks including a conjoined "TF" maker's mark.

The conjoined "TF" mark belongs to Thomas Francis, who according to David M. Mitchell in "Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London" (page 523)  was one of the most important silversmiths of the first half of the 17th century. He was apprenticed to Thomas Flynt in 1596, turned over to Richard Cooke in 1602 and obtained his freedom in 1604. In turn, he trained nineteen apprentices, (including Edward South the maker of the 1638 silver wine taster shown in the photo below), from which lines of silversmiths can be followed well in to the 18th century.